Confused with Guinea Pig Mange

I took Oliver to the vet last night as he had chewed and scratched his fur off and all red and horrid, anyway the vet said he had mange, gave him an injection to stop the mites and told me to get vitamin C disolvable tablets and put in water.

Went to pet shop and they disagree i asked for the disolvable tablets and she said is it for guinea pig and i said yes she said they dont need it because if they dont drink it straight away its no use and as long as they getting greens then thats the vitamin.

She advised me to bathe him in herbiscrub then rinse him and it will relieve the itching, she also said vet should have taken a skin scape to make sure it was mange although she says it sounds very much like it.

Do you all who have piggies agree with this and have yours ever had this.

Mine have had mange before but not for a while. They had a course of ivamec injections. Noone ever did a skin scrape as I think it was pretty obvious. I assume your vet is telling you to give them vitamin c as his system is low and thats when they pick up the mites from the hay. When mine have needed extra vitamin c I have used Abidec drops that you can get from the chemist, they are designed for children. What fresh diet do you usually feed them? He is not being bullied by the other one is he? This website has some great information on all aspects of guinea pig care, if I am allowed to put it on

http://www.guinealynx.info/sitemap.html

hi
good advise from aliwin
just wanted to add... i wouldnt bath him with hibiscrub(unless he has any open sores,then just that area),it will have no effect against mites,you could also dry your poor piggys coat out and make him more itchy.

Our guinea pigs had a course of Ivermectin for parasites.

I would (for once) go with the pet stores advice, because vit C drops in water doesnt work at all. I pressume you feed him green pepper? 1/4 of a green pepper a day per pig is sufficient Vitimin C, and a good pellet food such as Guinea Excel also has it added. But if they need extra I usually just syringe a bit of squeezed orange into some water to them, but I wouldnt add extra Vit C too often (as said with a good diet it isnt needed).

Like someone mentioned, a course of Ivermectin should also be given. This should then wipe out the possibility of parasites after the third 'round'. If the problem continues from them on, then it might be worth considering a fungal infection - which can be found on Guinea Lynx.

I would recommend googling Gorgeous Guineas as they offer great (and safe, unlike most) shampoos, melts and treatments for pigs with irritated skin.

I hope this helps. I would also recommend posting your problem on the Guinea Lynx website.

Hi Aliwin

Thanks for the info, Oliver had a injection which the vet said would stop the mites but its not due to the hay its just something guniea pigs can get. He has to go back in 10 days time. I feed them greens in the morning ie spring greens, celery, spinach and carrots and dry food in the evening. Oliver isnt being bullied by Lucas as Oliver is the boss and alot bigger than Lucas they seem to get along fine. Oliver looks alot better this morning and is first out when i put their food down.

The website info is really good thankyou very much.

I checked with my vet about hibiscrub and she said the same as you it would make him worse, so many people give different things to do and i dont know who to believe sometimes, just as well i checked with the vet.

Thanks for your advice i will google gorgeous guineas and have a read through, he does seem a lot better this morning so hope he continues.